It Doesn't Have Everything Nantucket Wanted, But Scaled Back Housing Bond Bill Approved By State Legislature

The Massachusetts House and Senate have agreed on a $5.16 billion housing bond bill that includes a provision endorsed by the Nantucket Select Board that creates a seasonal communities designation intended to open up new funding and guidance opportunities for designated communities.

The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Governor Maura Healey, does not include a $50 million grant provision for seasonal communities that was included in the Senate version, and is also lacking the transfer fee on high-value real estate transactions long backed by Nantucket affordable housing advocates. But the bill will create a Seasonal Communities Advisory Council, among other provisions

Emerging from negotiations between the House and Senate after the two chambers passed competing version of the bill last month, the compromise would define year-round housing as housing that is occupied for at least ten months a year, allow for year-round housing occupancy restrictions, permit federal low-income tax credit money to be used to fund public employee housing in seasonal communities and establish a year-round housing trust. It would also allow accessory dwelling units by right under single-family zoning, a provision Healey’s analysts estimate will create around 10,000 housing units across the state.

Healey and the state Democratic party have labelled housing one of their top priorities, and this bill, which barely managed to pass before the end of the formal legislative session, represents their biggest effort to make progress on tackling the state’s housing crisis. While it doesn’t measure up to the lofty expectations set by some local housing advocates, the seasonal communities designation included in the bill will provide new opportunities for Nantucket.

Senator Cyr, who represents the Cape and Islands in the Massachusetts Senate, was a staunch supporter of the seasonal communities designation during the negotiation process. He also proposed an amendment to the Senate’s version of the bill that would have re-introduced the 2 percent transfer fee, initially included in Healey’s version of the bill but excluded by both the House and Senate. However, facing likely defeat on the Senate floor, Cyr withdrew the amendment before it could go to a vote.